PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

Lin came to harvest another batch of Yun Zhi or what most people called turkey-tail mushrooms from the dead and rotting tree in the field behind her house. Her arthritis had been acting up again and the tea always seemed to help.

“What the…?” She took off her glasses and cleaned them but the wee ones were still there, sitting on the mushrooms or sometimes using them like stairsteps. The little folk each had a pipe and were madly puffing away.

“Contains PCP or don’t you know?” said one with a silver beard.

“They’re all getting high.” Lin’s mouth gaped.

It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in this week’s edition of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image above as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

© James Pyles

Seeing the description below the photo on Rochelle’s webpage, I looked up “turkey-tail mushrooms.” I found the Chinese name for them. I also discovered that a tea or tonic made from them sometimes bolsters a body’s immune system and acts against chronic illnesses.

I also learned it contains polysaccharide-peptide (PSP) which stimulates immune cell activity. I initially misread it as PCP or phencyclidine which is the active ingredient in marijuana. Getting a bunch of fairies high was only one step away, or maybe it’s Lin who’s loaded.

To read other tales based on the prompt or to contribute one of your own, visit inlinkz.

Promotional image for my short story “A Monolith in the Regolith”

My YA science fiction novel A Wobblegong And His Boy is up to fifteen reviews/ratings on Amazon with 91% of them being 4 and 5 stars (slowly gaining traction). Don’t forget you can also review my novel at Goodreads.

My new “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet” short story “A Monolith in the Regolith” is now featured in the anthology Tom Corbett, Space Cadet: An Original Short Story Anthology.

You can also watch my latest podcast interview at MythBehavers here:

Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-z3v35-1b1a0b4

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6T9Mtg0XGG0vNpIozr3UIL

Happy Wednesday.